The present invention pertains to audio transmitters and portable storage cases, and, more particularly, pertains to an audio transmitter for electronic equipment and a portable remote control unit receiver and storage apparatus.
Home entertainment options and choices have changed and expanded dramatically since the mid-twentieth century. Where homes once had only a small television screen encased in plywood with just three channels and a cabinet-sized, floor standing radio, many homes in the wired twenty-first century boast an entertainment center that includes a surround sound stereo/CD player system, video cassette recorder, multi-channel television set with a satellite disk link, and a personal computer connected to the Internet. In such a wrap-around home entertainment environment, it is essential to have a reliable, durable, and handy control device or system for operating the various pieces of electronic entertainment equipment. Although a few innovatively designed homes have their entire entertainment systems, including the control devices, interconnected with and programmed into the internal residential wiring system, in the majority of homes separate control devices are still utilized for each separate piece of electronic entertainment equipment.
Thus, separate hand operable remote control units are used to control each separate television set and video cassette recorder. Also, combination CD players and stereos will come with their own control unit. As a result of the proliferation of control units, there is the tendency to lose them amongst the clutter of household items and furnishings; or the remote control units invariably get misplaced and then accidentally broken as they are sat or stepped on.
Moreover, a major disadvantage with all remote control units is that while they can control channel selection and audio volume, they are unable to control the direction of audio broadcast. Consequently, everyone seated or situated in a game room or living room will be barraged by the same audio, whether emanating from the CD player, television set or VCR; and the primary recourse to avoiding such sounds is simply to leave the room.
Therefore, the prior art discloses a number of devices that both store and protect remote control units as well as direct audio from, for example, a television set or VCR to an individual at a defined place or location.
Kraft (U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,360) discloses a housing for storing a remote control unit. The housing includes a drawer which opens and closes similar to a file cabinet drawer, and the housings are capable of being stacked or mated together in various configurations. However, it is likely that stacking the housings together will increase their bulk and add one more object to clutter the entertainment room, living room, or dining room.
Ohara (U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,517) discloses a remote unit for operating a television set. The remote unit includes a speaker and clock, and is linked to the television set by a cord or by a wireless link. The use of a cord would be impractical as the cord length would tether the individual in proximity to the television set; and use of the wireless link would render Ohara's device essentially no different from already existing remote control units.
Doria (U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,159) discloses a case for protecting remote control units. The case includes two attachable shells for containing the remote control unit, but the case is not electrically linked in any way to electronic equipment nor does the case include audio speakers.
Spiegel (U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,044) discloses a protective housing for holding a remote control unit therein by a spring retainer clip. The protective housing also includes oversized pushbuttons that align with the remote control unit's pushbuttons in order to aid individuals that have limited or diminished visual or manual abilities.
Spiegel's protective housing doesn't include audio speakers.
Vernace (U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,757) discloses a remote control protective holder and detection device which includes a detection means for locating the remote controller. When either the remote control holder is moved or the television is turned on, an audio signal is generated from a piezo transducer to allow an individual to locate the remote controller. Vernace's device does not include conveying audio sound from the television speaker to the individual.
Lansang (U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,127) discloses a headphone remote control device that incorporates the functions of both a remote control unit and a standard headphone. However, use of Lansang's headphone device compels an individual to wear headphones while watching television, and thus that individual cannot participate in any conversation or activity going on around him or her because wearing the headphones impedes social interaction.
Martin (U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,087) discloses a hearing aid wherein one hearing apparatus is attached to each side bow of hearing-aid glasses, and each hearing apparatus includes an optical signal transmitter/receiver for permitting optical signal transmission therebetween.
Nonetheless, despite the ingenuity of the above-described devices there remains a need for an audio transmitter and remote control receiver and storage apparatus that both protects and contains at least one remote control unit and also detects and then conveys audio transmissions from a television set, or other piece of electronic equipment, to a remote control unit adjacent and handy to an individual while minimizing audio interference for other individuals that are located in and about the same room or area.